Some Nominees for "Person of the Year"

Last week, I indicated that I expected to post some discussion of the latest employment data following the Labor Department's release of November figures last Friday. In the interim, I have been on Jury Duty in Brooklyn, and that has lasted longer and been more fatiguing than I had expected. In addition, the Labor Department published even more information than usual in some follow-up reports and the President has spoken about labor market conditions. So there's considerable material, and we'll dig into it on the coming weekend and bring you our thoughts about employment, unemployment and jobs.

While my brain was absorbed with the car-truck collision that was the subject of the court case I sat through, it occurred to me -- through no particular rational connection -- that this is the time of the year when we hear about the most influential people of the year or the most important or simply, "the person of the year". I conjured some nominations for the year-end cover of Time Magazine. Now, Time has their own set of nominations [here], and they welcome you to "rate" them and "vote" for your favorite. Some of them agree with my conjurings. Some of them are very interesting. Voting, though, makes it more like a popularity contest, and I'm not sure that's the real intention. It's certainly not my intention, as you can see in my list. [This text has been modified somewhat from the original. I discovered Time's nominee list only after I put up the first version of these comments.]

Time's designation is not a prize or award for the "best". Hitler and Stalin were named in 1938 and 1939, respectively, Putin in 2007 and George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Also, as far as I can tell, no one has received the distinction two years in a row. So it is unlikely that Barack Obama would be named again this year. [Here's the list, so you can see, if you like: http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/archive/stories/.] Given these notions, here are my ideas:

Harry Reid & Nancy Pelosi

The Unemployed

Producers of "reality" TV shows: what kind of statements are they making about society? What kinds of behavior are they encouraging in people?

Fox News and its commentators

In another vein, and perhaps together,
Capt. Chesley Sullenberger
Susan Boyle
who gave, in varying amounts and no particular order, heroism, joy and goodness, at a time when we needed all of those things a lot.

People who are interesting, but whose designation this year might be premature:
General Stanley McChrystal
The Tea Party organizers

Finally, no one has been honored posthumously; otherwise, we'd obviously put forth Ted Kennedy.

What do you think of these? Whom would you nominate to be on the cover of Time Magazine? Let us know your ideas!